


You Have Broken Through My Armour, I Love You All The Same

by Velocity_Owl87



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Battle, Gen, Military Science Fiction, Minor Qui-Gon Jinn/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Multi, Protective Anakin Skywalker, Serious Injuries, Soldiers, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Strangers to Lovers, The Force, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-13 01:09:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16882749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: Military Academy AU-Anakin and Ahsoka are cadets sent out as a last minute stop-gap to help out Jedis Jinn and Kenobi while they wait for their back up to arrive.Anakin, while protecting Ahsoka and an injured Jinn, puts himself in danger. While being treated for his wounds and subsequent coma, he recalls the meeting and eventual relationship between himself and Ahsoka Tano.





	You Have Broken Through My Armour, I Love You All The Same

**Author's Note:**

> Britpop. I blame this mostly on Britpop and the fact that I've wanted to write an Ahsoka/Anakin for ages now and this is the result.  
> In this AU, Ahsoka and Anakin are the same age, so early 20's. They have gone through their schooling together and are in the equivalent of being in their second or third year of University.  
> It's not *quite* the Clone Wars, but something similar.  
> Proofed, but if errors occur, they will be fixed. Many thanks to Captain_Kiri_Storm for the talks and inspiration.

_Present Day_

Anakin ran, his slug thrower held tightly against him as he moved with the battalion he had somehow found himself attached to after the first mad scramble of the landing. He looked around as much as he was able, the explosions and debris making it difficult to really spot anyone other than his own cadet troop and clone troopers as well.

His heart was in his throat and the adrenaline spiked up inside him as he ran, shooting at anyone not wearing the familiar white plastoid armour. He doesn’t stop to investigate, leaving the cleanup for the crew with the flamethrowers.

He’s lucky that he got enough training in to make all of his shots aim true. The slug thrower is just an extra precaution to make sure that whoever was in his sights stayed down. He used to get laughed at for having such an antiquated weapon, but after his kills were racked up, no one ever dared to say anything at all.

Cody had just laughed and shaken his head as he had clapped him on the shoulder once the scores had been tallied and displayed on the headquarter screens.

“They’re jealous it comes to you so easily. You and Tano. Ignore them, they hate anyone not born dirtside or not from a lab.”

Cody had told him before he had invited him and Soka out for dinner and a few drinks.

It wasn’t anything fancy, just some local hole in the wall with strong brew to eat through his stomach lining and give them all horrible hangovers. Rex and Fives had been there too, no one had been annoyed or put out that he had taken top honours, with Cody, Rex, Soka, and Fives rounding out the top spots.

He wiped the beads of sweat trickling down his temples under his helmet and looked around for his friends.

Cody and Rex were holding their own and Fives…

Without thinking, Anakin dropped, raised his gun to his shoulder and fired, taking out two of the enemy and leaving Fives in the clear. He got a wave for his troubles, making Anakin grin and hold up two fingers.

Fives did the same before heading out another direction and throwing a grenade to the cluster of droids northeast of them, blowing them up to pieces and causing havoc within the enemy lines as shrapnel and flaming droids parts rained down on them.

Anakin snorted at the sight, but didn’t pause.

It was too fast and hectic for him to do so.

Especially now that he was looking for Ahsoka and the first wave of troops that had been sent out to cover the Jedi Generals that were leading the charge.

“At least it’s Kenobi and Jinn. I don’t think I could trust anyone else, to be honest.”

Pulsar had muttered as they had shouldered their blasters and ammo.

“They’re more centered in reality than in that Force stuff the others are. And they care about the men. Their battalion is the first pick for the cadets and us.”

Pulsar had said as they were waiting to be deployed, easing the unease Anakin had felt at not having Ahsoka beside him or in the rows before him.

She had always been there, he realised as he ran, that faint bond line of theirs getting brighter as he got closer to her.

Ever since…

His thought was cut off when the bond flared bright and almost painful and he saw her.

She was shooting at waves and waves of drones as they moved inexorably towards her and the downed colleagues that she was protecting.

Pulsar, Ox, Hardcase and a few others were standing there, helping, but it was only so much that they could do before they were overwhelmed.

“Kriff it all to fuck!”

Cody snarled when he noticed and directed the men’s attention over to the drones.

Anakin gave him a short nod and proceeded to shoot the ranks, making good sized holes in them as they attacked.

But they kept on coming, making him push through to reach Ahsoka, who was doing her solid best to keep them at bay, her intense single mindedness scaring him as she fought. Her face was smeared with something dark and she was scowling. He saw her scream, but he couldn’t hear what she shouted.

He was still too far away to do so, but he could clearly see that she and the others where trying to shield Kix as he worked on a too still Jinn.

Anakin swore as he watched Kix frantically work to close the gut wound that was still bleeding and would no doubt kill Jinn if backup didn’t get there fast. Backup that was his battalion and Kenobi’s which was about ten minutes away.

Ten minutes that Jinn didn’t have.

And he, like everyone else, was all too aware of how much of a crushing blow it would deal Kenobi. Not just with how well they worked together in battle, but also personally wise. They were subtle, like he and Ahsoka, but it was obvious that there was more than just affection for colleagues in the way that they threw themselves into defending each other.

They fought together and Anakin had to wonder why Kenobi was so far away this time. Surely command wasn’t that blind to keep them apart. Or-

His thoughts were cut short as they got closer to them, their appearance pushing the droids back enough for Helix to come over and help stabilise Jinn, who was lying still, but still stubbornly clinging to life.

Kenobi’s ship was nearly there and Anakin wiped more sweat out of his eyes.

_Ahsoka_

He was so close that he could feel the essence of her. He was so kriffing close-

She screamed in pain this time, her body thrown backwards by a direct shot.

Anakin screamed in return. He knew he did, from how raw and sore his throat felt later.

He just didn’t know what he screamed as he ran towards her.

Yet the sight of a grenade landing four feet away from her prevented that from happening.

He didn’t stop to think about it. He only ran as fast he could, his lungs burning and the stupid stitch in his side flaring up, but he didn’t stop until he got close to it and hurled it away towards the droids it had come from.

It worked.

But the explosion still caught them.

And all Anakin recalled from that was incandescent brightness, the worst pain ever engulfing his arm and then the ground rushing up to meet him.

~*~*~*~*~

He felt too tall and too awkward to be standing there wearing a dark blue and grey uniform, in that hard-packed earth field along with all of the other younglings that had been handpicked or shipped into the cadets.

Like he didn’t belong there, amongst the rows of all sorts of species and wealth levels.

He felt that strength, slippery and bright and pulsing and he thought he was going to choke in that sunny field. It was just too much and he wanted to be back in Tatooine, beside his mother and stepfather and-

 _She_ was looking at him.

The togruta with her clear blue eyes, large in her orange skinned and white marked face. Her montrals were still small and thickly striped in blue and white.

He knew it was rude to stare, but he couldn’t help it. He’d not really seen Togrutas outside of the holonet and she was pretty in a way that he hadn’t known anyone could be.

He cleared his throat and tried to look away. They were getting orders.

He did notice the shy smile that curved her lips before he looked away and wondered what that meant.

“- _on the bed! Get him over here! Pulsar! Over here!  And Tano-”_

Anakin was looking for one of the texts on strategy in the Academy’s library when he finally got the chance to actually talk to the Togruta girl, whose name he had found out was Ahsoka Tano.

 

They had some classes together, but didn’t sit anywhere near each other, fate or design, he wasn’t quite sure.

All he knew was that he would find himself looking at her and would get caught and he had the feeling that she was doing the same if her quick looking at her datapads were anything to go by.

She was interested and he could feel her interest as much as he could feel the warmth of the sun. It made him wonder if she could feel _his_ interest as well. They were in the same Force Ethics and Practices class so she must have had some kind of inkling. The looks they shared told him as much.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to talk to her.

It wasn’t the right time, the Force told him as much.

It wasn’t until Ahsoka literally bumped into him as she walked towards the shelves, nearly knocking him down. For someone so slight, he was surprised that she was solid enough to nearly do so.

Anakin should have been annoyed for that reason and the fact that she had the text on strategies that he needed in her hands. He would have normally snapped at her and he wasn’t embarrassed to admit that would be the case usually.

Yet when they came into contact with each other, the Force sizzled and sparked in ways that made both of them gasp in shock and surprise.

The moment Anakin’s hand grasped her arm, he knew that they were bound to each other. He could feel the tendrils of fate and connection wrap around the both of them as surely as if they had been bonded in a temple.

She was the one that would be his partner, inside and outside of the academy. He knew that as surely as he knew that his name was Anakin Skywalker.

He looked down at her face and saw her eyes were wide with the same understanding that had dawned on him and something else, judging by the dark orange of her cheeks.

“I-I-I hadn’t dared to think that the Force had been right in this.”

She was the first one to regain her wits and speak, since he was still too stunned to actually verbalise what had just happened between them.

“You knew?”

It wasn’t the most intelligent thing to say, but he was utterly stupefied at the way that the Force was humming in approval at them _finally_ speaking to each other.

“I got hints of it. Just like you did. It wasn’t coincidence that we were in the same squad. They try and separate the Force users. Especially with someone as powerful as you.”

Anakin’s eyes widened and she flushed a darker burnt orange, her touch shy as she sketched the lines of his face, not quite touching him.

“You don’t know how bright you shine in the Force?”

Anakin shook his head and she smiled shyly at him.

“You do.”

He smiled at her, his free hand coming up to touch her cheek, making the Force snap and sing.

“So do you.”

_“-Stable. We stopped the bleeding and stopped him from going into shock. But his-”_

“Get up.”

Anakin cracked open one eye to look at Ahsoka, who was sitting at the end of his bed, wearing only his shirt and a pair of black panties that were nothing fancy, but clung to her hips in ways that had kept him company on long patrols.

He buried his face into his pillow and shook his head. He was far too comfortable lounging on his bed with Ahsoka. He’d had a rough patrol the last fortnight and just was content to lie about with his partner in bed before they had to be at the dining hall.

That was the one good thing about being a senior cadet: They got their own quarters and they had free time on the seventh day of the week cycle.

Ostensibly, it was to catch up on any work that hadn’t been done most of the week. Most of the time, it was used for sleeping, homework, or “bonding.”

“Skyguy...I’m bored! Get up! Let’s do something!”

Ahsoka whined flopping over him dramatically.

Anakin groaned softly, but buried his head deeper into his nice, soft pillow.

He was nearly snoozing again when he felt Ahsoka sink her teeth into his shoulder.

 _That_ got his attention, making him jump up and knock both him and Ahsoka to the ground in an ungraceful heap.

“Owwww.”

“That’s what you get for _biting_ me?! Force, Ahsoka, are you teething?”

Ahsoka bared her fangs at him as they both slowly got up and moved back to the bed, Anakin towards the plain wooden headboard while Ahsoka moved to her usual spot by Anakin’s feet. She sat supporting her weight on her arms as she stretched her legs out for Anakin to run his fingertips down the lean lines of them.

He traced the lines of her thighs, shins, calves, the tops of her feet with such featherlight touches that made Ahsoka sigh with pleasure.

He traced the lines of her legs once before he pulled away, but was stopped by Ahsoka giving an angry little growl.

He raised an eyebrow at that reaction, reaching over to retrace the muscles in her legs. This time, starting from her ankles up to her thighs, prompting her to lie down flat on the bed.

He moved with her, crawling over to cover her body with his.

She smiled, a slow, languid smile as she unbuttoned the shirt she was wearing to let him see her again, the orange of her skin darkening as he moved to kiss her.

His hands moved down her body, skimming down her torso until he reached the waistband of her knickers and yanked them down past her thighs.

She shimmied under his touch, the kisses still going as she lay naked under him, her clever hands making short work of his own boxer briefs and taking him in hand.

“Is this something?”

He murmured, nipping at her bottom lip and making her laugh before she kissed him again and moved her hand _just so_ driving any clever retorts from his head.

_“You need to rest, Cadet Tano! Skywalker is stable. You on the other hand, need to rest. Hey!”_

_“Let her see him. Surely a minute won’t hurt.”_

_Harsh whispers followed until  the bed dipped with someone’s weight._

_“I will. Later. I need to see him. I need to see my Ani.”_

_He felt light touch of her hand, then her lips._

_“Come back to me.”_

Anakin strapped on the forearm bracers and tried to not fumble with the buckles as he tightened them. He had already done that with the shin guards and already needed Cody to help him out with them since his hands were sweaty and shaking and his fingers were clumsier than before.

He didn’t want for Ahsoka to come and help him with the bracers and see how nervous he was about the upcoming battle.

It was far too soon for them to be shipped out, but the backup was too far away to be any good for the 212th and the 347th, so the cadets would be holding down the line until they either finished the battle or new troops came to their aid.

Jinn and Kenobi could end the fight, but not without sacrificing themselves to get the victory. They needed the help and there was no way that the cadet core wasn’t going to step in.

This was what they were trained for and Anakin was sure that his platoon was ready, yet he couldn’t help the undercurrent of nerves that flooded through him.

He wasn’t afraid for himself at all, and as cliched as it sounded, he was only afraid for Ahsoka, Rex, Cody and the others.

He had made peace with the possibility of dying and had already written out his last will and testament and stored it in the database as was the usual procedure.No, that wasn’t the outcome that worried him.

Having to watch his mates die was what tied his stomach into knots.

Holding a dying Ahsoka made his hands slippery with sweat. The idea of having her die in front of him made his fingers slip on the buckle again and force him to start over again.

“Fucking shit!”

He braced himself for another round of frustration when small, black gloved hands took over the task and had it done perfectly in a couple of swift moves.

“It’s going to be okay.”

Ahsoka murmured, giving his forearm a light squeeze before moving away.

It was an open secret, the couples in the troop, but they still took pains to keep it as hidden as possible as to not get split up and end up on the opposite sides of the galaxy.

Anakin smiled, but it was a pale, weak imitation of his usual smile.

“Survive. That’s all I’m asking of you. Survive and come back to me.”

Anakin murmured, making Ahsoka press her lips together before giving his face a quick caress.

“You too.”

_“Skywalker, your troop has gotten medals for your efforts on Melara. If it wasn’t for your quick thinking, Jinn would have been lost and the battle would have been lost. The Order of Naboo has been conferred to you. Congratulations.”_

_There was something placed on the table near him, then nothing._

_“Skywalker...Thank you. We haven’t met. But you did me a big favour and I won’t ever forget it. You saved more than just another Jedi. I hope you can wake up so I can directly tell you this. But for now, thank you.”_

_The footsteps receded, distorted from the bacta. He knew where he was now._

_“Anakin, come back to me. Please, you promised…”_

_Ahsoka touched the tank, her signature in the Force strong, washing over him and acting like a catalyst for his own dormant one._

Anakin opened his eyes in time to see Ahsoka gasp and shakily move her arm, the one not in the sling against the cool transparisteel of the bacta tank.

He raised his right hand and was shocked to see that it was missing.

_“Phosphorus burns.”_

He heard Ahsoka’s voice in his mind, sounding amused, yet close to a sob.

_“But you’re alive.”_

Anakin smiled, his eyes crinkling behind the mask as he raised his left hand instead and pressed it against the transparisteel.

_“As are you.”_

 

**Author's Note:**

> There is a soundtrack to this-  
> "Road Rage" Catatonia  
> "Life of Riley" The Lighting Seeds  
> "Babies" Pulp  
> "Good Enough" Dodgy  
> "BIttersweet Symphony" The Verve  
> "Girls and Boys" Blur  
> "There She Goes" The Las  
> "You Stole the Sun From My Heart" Manic Street Preachers  
> "Mulder and Scully" Catatonia  
> "Rocks" Primal Scream  
> "Trash" Suede  
> "Wide Open Spaces" Mansun  
> "The Beautiful Ones" Suede  
> "Staying Out For The Summer" Dodgy


End file.
